Brewers, beers and bands

Guests who attended Innovation Brew Works third anniversary celebration enjoyed every second.

IBW was joined by eight other breweries and one home brew club to celebrate the event from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on April 21 at Innovation Brew Works located in Cal Poly’s Innovation Village.

Dr. Beth Foster, a professor in the kinesiology department and a huge brewery enthusiast, was grooving to the music and walking around with her pal Deb, as they stopped and posed for a picture of their nifty shirts that read, “Life is too short for bad beer…”

“I am enjoying the event a lot,” Dr. Foster said, smiling. “I love supporting local breweries and I love to support the students that are working and learning the craft.”

Beer aficionados partaking in the beer themed festivities at the Brew Works third anniversary event. (Sarah Madrigal | The Poly Post)

The event was so big that they extended the event onto the parking lot.

Also, they enjoyed the photo booth with many props such as signs saying “Don’t worry, be Hoppy!” and “Beer Me!”

People were digging the endless beer samples with smiles and laughs during the anniversary.

Opening the event was the band Sincerely, Me who was rocking out with the guests as they went from the one brewery’s booth to the next, getting poured knowledge and tastiness.

Following them was the band Couches & Co. who brought a smooth jazz feel with their songs.

Nolan Forstie is a fourth-year mechanical engineering student and the drummer for the band Sincerely, Me.

He was enjoying Poly Trolley’s fries, and was eager to start trying the beer samples.

“We are a band that is trying to make it off our originals and thrive off what people like from what we have made,” Forstie said. “Although covers are by far the best way to get people involved in your set, it was new for us, but a lot of fun throwing it back to 2000s pop punk.”

Sincerely, Me performing in front of the Brew Works crowd. (Sarah Madrigal | The Poly Post)

Poly Trolley was serving one order after another satisfying many guests. What goes better with beer than an order from a food truck?

Enjoying the event were Rebekah Aguilar, a first-year transfer physics and chemistry student, who came out to support Forstie and his band.

“It has been a really chill event, something good to do on a Saturday,” Aguilar said. “I haven’t been here before, but I just went inside to get a lemonade and I thought ‘Wow, this is really cool’ and the drink was really refreshing.”

“I joined Rebekah to enjoy the event, it is pretty good, I already had three drinks,” Reyes said. “My favorite so far was a beer from the home brew company. I also collect shot glasses so the small shot glass they gave us for sampling was really cool.”

Cezar Osuna, a master biology student and employee for IBW, is responsible for checking beers and making sure they are ready to be served and enjoyed.

“A lot of people think that is industry is purely competitive but it’s actually really friendly,” Osuna said. “We like to help each other out and learn from each other but it also has its competitive side to it.”

Pouring beer at the “Crafting an Education” booth was IBW’s head brewer Philip Cowart.

“I think it’s a pretty good event, good turnout and good weather,” Cowart said. “People have been receiving our special release beers really well, we pour a new one every 30 minutes.

“I try to stay close and be a part of the CPP community and we are happy to come and help out,” Johnson said. “It was nice to meet and talk to all the guests but it was really nice talking to the people in the industry as well.”

Working with the home brew club, Horse Thief Brewers, was Randall Chew, another CPP alum.

He talks about the unique differences from a club and an official brewery.

They are not allowed to actually sell beer. They are only allowed to give beer out.

“It all starts with someone buying you a beer making kit and then you go from there,” Chew said. “You strive and try to make better and better beer, then you go and join a club and learn a as much beer knowledge as you can.”

According the IBW’s Manger, Melody Young, the event was a big success and she is happy with the turnout.